#bronze age comics

Marvel UK’s Carnivac (Part 2)

Canivac’s next appearances showed the conflict between his warrior honor, Decepticon pride, and self preservation. His pride drove him to refuse the Autobot brand and come into conflict with Springer over protecting humans. However, when a new Mayhem Attack Squad consisting of Bludgeon, Octopunch, Stranglehold, Snarler, Needlenose, and Spinister came to hunt him down, he realized that running away and leaving the humans to fend for themselves was the coward’s way out, especially when the humans he protected tried to help him.

Thus, Carnivac stood his ground and fought. For the first time, he realized the value of protecting something, the strength that came from fighting for more than just pride. He risked his life for the humans he formerly disdained, and would have died a hero if Catilla didn’t arrive in the nick of time.

Unlike other the story arcs of other honorable Decepticons in the franchise, Carnivac survived his battle with his enemies and his inner demons. Instead. Catilla was killed by Bludgeon saving his partner. When Springer and the rest of his team arrived and drove off the Mayhem Attack Squad, he and Carnivac were left lamenting the price of their foolish pride. Carnivac swore revenge, and he would eventually get it…

(To be continued…)

Scans originally from The Transformers UK #237-239. Color reprints from Transformers Annual 1992. Writer Simon Furman, artists Simon Coleby, Lee Sullivan, and Geoff Senior.

Marvel UK’s Carnivac (Part 1)

Every so often, comic writers will breathe new life into characters who would otherwise be obscure. Such was the case with Carnivac, the Decepticon Pretender Beast in the Marvel UK G1 comics (which were made as filler for the Marvel US G1 comics due to different distribution schedules). Under Simon Furman’s Pen, he became a solid B-list character, an honorable warrior was was friends with the Autobot Wrecker leader Springer.

Described in his original Tech Spec as a frenzied and sadistic fighter who was nevertheless polite and cheerful, Carnivac first appeared in the UK comics in the Time Wars storyline as the leader of the Mayhem Attack Squad, a group of Decepticon crack commandos. He united his forces with Springer’s Wreckers to fight off a time-travelling Galvatron. As the battle progressed and Springer saved his life, the two gained a certain appreciation for each other. Originally tasked with betraying Springer and killing the Wreckers once Galvatron was defeated, Carnivac’s warrior honor prevented him from doing so. Instead, when both teams were stranded on earth for the time being, Carnivac and his partner Catilla defected from the Decepticons to join Springer.

However, Carnivac stands out from other defectors among the Transformers in that he never stopped being a Decepticon. While honor and friendship were more important to him than factional loyalties, he still retained a Decepticon warrior’s code and held a Decepticon point of view. Paradoxical, but unique.

(To be continued…)

Scans from The Transformers UK #201-222. Writer Simon Furman, artists Robin Smith, Dan Reed, and John Stokes.

Pages from Marvel’s Transformers #71-75. Author Simon Furman, Artists Andrew Wildman and Geoff Senior.

One of the most unexpected and tragic redemption stories to come out Marvel’s Transformers is the saga of Scorponok, the archenemy of the giant Autobot Fortress Maximus. Fortress Maximus/Cerebros and Scorponok are both Headmasters, whose heads can detach and transform into a separate little figure. In American Transformers fiction, the tiny head figurines were Nebulans, human-like aliens from the planet Nebulos. Back when Headmasters were shiny new toys, they were introduced in their own Marvel Transformers miniseries, in which Autobots led by Fortress Maximus resettled on Nebulos to escape the ongoing war. The Decepticons pursued them and eventually both sides took on partners among the native Nebulans.

Scorponok’s partner was Lord Zarak, a selfish, xenophobic, and deluded political pundit who was determined to whip up the populace’s fears over the metal aliens so he could seize emergency powers over the Nebulan government. So caught up was he in his racism and self-righteousness that he invited the Decepticons to Nebulos to help him get rid of the Autobots, only to find himself forced to appease Scorponok and his warriors at every turn lest they conquer and destoy his planet. Eventually, he was “binary bonded” to Scorponok to become his head, and their thoughts began to align. For all his selfishness, Zarak was not fully evil and loved his daughter and homeland, but bound to Scorponok, he became cruel and violent. However, what little nobility Zarak had also influenced Scorponok. The combined Scorponok now had Zarak’s potential for love and Scorponok’s headstrong valor.

Starting from the Underbase Saga, Scorponok became aware of Optimus Prime’s wisdom. Later, when Optimus Prime proposed an alliance to defeat Unicron, Scorponok struggled with the temptation to backstab Prime, but ultimately did the right thing. Over the rest of the storyline, he grew more and more impressed with Prime’s courage and compassion, and more aware of the deficiencies within himself. He was finally inspired to make a heroic last stand against Unicron while Prime was temporarily incapacitated.

And so Scorponok, who was also Lord Zarak, a man who had once deluded himself into thinking he was doing good when he had only done evil, only to meet true goodness in the form of Optimus Prime, died doing one genuinely good thing.

Three scans from the UK Transformers comic, issues #9, #10, and the 1986 Annual. Issue 9-10 written by Steve Parkhouse, art by John Ridgway. Annual written by Ian Mennell and Wilf Prigmore, art by Will Simpson

When the Diaclone and Microman toys imported from Takara were first rebranded as Transformers, Marvel Comics creators such as JIm Shooter and Bob Budiansky developed much of the basic lore for the transforming robots, including the planet Cybertron, the factions of Autobot and Decepticon, and many of the names and personalities of the original Ark and Nemesis crew. While not as famous as the cartoon, the Mavel Comic was actually the first piece of Transformers fiction, beginning as a miniseries in 1984 before being extended into a full series.

The US comic, mostly written by Bob Budiansky, was darker and more willing to take risks with the status quo than the cartoon. Just in the first 10 issues, Shockwave usurps power over the Decepticons, most of the Autobots are knocked into a coma and strung up over the Ark, Ratchet is forced to square off against Megatron, Optimus Prime is reduced to a head at Shockwave’s mercy, and the battle between Autobots and Decepticons leaves a young woman paralyzed and hating all Transformers. On the other hand, because of the fast pace of the action, very few of the Transformers get spotlighted like they do in the cartoon.

In the UK, Transfomers comics were published on a bi-monthly schedule. Each US issue was re-published in two parts, and several filler issues were added while waiting for the US issues to accumulate. The UK-exclusive issues were darker and moodier than the US issues (helped along by some superb art), featured long and compelling story arcs, and gave the spotlight to some of the less frequently occurring Transformers like the Dinobots.

One side-effect of this tone shift is that even the most kind-hearted and cheerful Autobots, like Jazz, could get downright disturbing in the pages of the UK comic. In the first UK filler storyline, Man of Iron, Jazz is featured first as an otherworldly horror wandering the outskirts of a rural English town, then in his first speaking scene, outright kidnaps a young boy in front of his horrified mother. In the second Annual, he (accidentally) shoots an East German spy with a heat seeking missile to stop him from allying with the Decepticons.